


The Royal We

by dracoqueen22



Series: Crown the Empire [8]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alt-Mode Sexual Interfacing, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dom/sub Undertones, Knotting, M/M, Safeword Use, Sticky Sexual Interfacing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-07-14 07:19:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 6,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7159310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracoqueen22/pseuds/dracoqueen22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How to train your T-Rex. Or alternately, How to Tame your Jet. A collection of short fics featuring Grimlock and Starscream, set in the Crown the Empire universe but don’t quite fit in the canon run. May contain spoilers for Reign and Salvage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. To The Limit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grimlock would stop if Starscream asked.

Starscream had never been more aroused in his life.

“Just do it,” he panted as he straddled Grimlock’s array, his hands planted flat to his lover’s abdominal armor. 

“Are you sure?” Grimlock asked, always asking, always making certain, always driving Starscream crazy with the delays!

“Yes, I’m sure!” he snapped, his valve cycling tight, lubricant soaking Grimlock beneath him as the mere idea was enough to send his systems shooting toward overload. He held on, but just barely. 

Grimlock’s hands dragged down his backstrut, his lower back, and cupped his hips. He cradled Starscream’s aft even as he rolled upward, pushing deep into Starscream, so deep the head of his spike mashed Starscream’s ceiling node and stayed there. 

“Tell me to stop,” he said, even as Starscream heard something click and felt the base of Grimlock’s spike start to swell just inside his valve rim. 

“I won’t,” Starscream hissed and dug his fingers into the seams of Grimlock’s armor. “If you make me beg, I’ll never forgive you.” 

A deep chuckle echoed from the depths of Grimlock’s chassis. “Then I won’t,” he said as his spike continued to swell, but only at the base, where it stretched and stretched and stretched the limits of Starscream’s valve. 

He shuddered, optics rolling back, as pleasure rolled through his frame in steady waves. Charge crackled out from beneath his armor. His fingers left clawing scrapes in Grimlock’s paint. 

He couldn’t explain it. There was something about the stretch, pushing his frame to the limits, that made him hotter than a slagpit. His sensor nodes fired off, one after another, and he knew, he knew, if he shouted, Grimlock would stop. And maybe that was it, maybe that was the draw. 

Starscream didn’t know. All he knew was that the wave rose and fell over him, crashing him down into a screaming overload and more were on the horizon. All he had to do was hang on and enjoy the ride.


	2. Small Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Discomfort is the point of submission, he says, and Grimlock has never been angrier.

He hadn’t stopped shaking since the gasped out request for Grimlock to stop had first warbled out of his mouth. Starscream’s wings drooped, pressed hard against his back. He wouldn’t meet Grimlock’s optics. His armor had clamped tight.

Right now, he looked as if he expected Grimlock to raise a hand or a foot to him, and not for any of the reasons they both enjoyed. He looked like he expected to be punished for failure.

Grimlock, all over again, hated every mech who had ever touched Starscream. Not because Starscream belonged to him, but because it was obvious none of them had ever taken the time to treat him right, the way he deserved.

Grimlock tossed the cuffs over his shoulder and knelt down in front of his lover, hoping to Primus that Starscream wasn’t going to draw inward, as he sometimes did when he wasn’t spitting fire at Grimlock in an attempt to hide how upset he was.

He took Starscream’s wrists gently, though the cuffs hadn’t left so much as a scrape behind. Grimlock had chosen the padded ones on purpose.

“Starscream,” he said, trying to catch his lover’s attention. “What’s wrong?”

Crimson optics found the wall to the left of them very fascinating. “I should have been stronger.”

It took every ounce of Grimlock’s self-control not to let his anger show. “You do realize that the point of a safeword is so that we stop if you are uncomfortable?”

“Discomfort is the point of submission,” Starscream muttered, and it sounded like a recitation, something he’d been told to memorize.

“No.” Grimlock leaned forward, pressing the side of their heads together so that Starscream could still look away if he so chose. “No, it is not. Discomfort should never be part of these games.”

“Use of the safeword is a failure. A good submissive should never find reason to call upon it,” Starscream said, his tone still oddly dull.

Grimlock couldn’t fight the sigh this time. He sat back on his heelstruts, and then on his aft, pulling Starscream into his arms. “I’d be much angrier if you hadn’t. I don’t know who told you that nonsense, but it’s wrong. If anything, the one who failed is me.”

Starscream squirmed in his arms. “That’s impossible.”

“Yeah, well, it happened.” Grimlock shrugged. “I should have insisted that we discuss limits in detail rather than generalities. But also, I can’t account for everything. Sometimes, we don’t know we don’t like something until we’re faced with it. And I’d never blame you for that.”

Starscream lapsed into silence, but some of the clattering eased out of his armor. He let himself be held, which was a major indulgence on his part.

“Using the safeword is not failing,” Grimlock repeated, if only to drive the point home. “It simply means we found something that doesn’t work and we can adjust in the future.”

Starscream’s field burst with surprise. “The future?”

“Yes. When we try again. Though not so soon, I think.” Grimlock gently stroked the edge of Starscream’s wings, knowing they were the least sensitive. “Might be time to look at our limits again.”

This time, Starscream’s silence was a stunned one. It also didn’t last long. He relaxed fully into Grimlock’s arms, as if all the tension left him in a burst.

“Thank you,” he murmured, engine purring.

Grimlock made a non-committal sound of acceptance. He didn’t think gratitude was necessary right now, but he wouldn’t push it. Everything with Starscream was a journey of small steps. So tiptoe he would.


	3. Challenge Accepted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of all the things Starscream imagined for his future, trying to give a report on their current budget while the leader of the Decepticons played footsie with him under the table was not something he ever expected.

Of all the things Starscream imagined for his future, trying to give a report on their current budget while the leader of the Decepticons played footsie with him under the table was not something he ever expected. Especially given that said leader was Grimlock.  
  
Worse that Grimlock was completely at ease. To look at him from the outside, no one would know that he kept tapping Starscream's foot with his own. He looked, of all things, completely engrossed in the numbers Starscream kept rattling off. He didn't seem to notice Starscream's wings twitching or his vents sputtering.  
  
Skywarp sure did. He wouldn't stop giggling. No matter how many glares Starscream tossed in his direction.  
  
And predictably, no matter how many pings Starscream sent to Grimlock's comm, complete with hissed demands for him to cease the puerile behavior at once, it did not stop. Grimlock continued to tease him, to nudge the tip of his pede against the curve of Starscream's thruster, the gleam of his visor staring straight through to Starscream's spark.  
  
He tried not to shiver.  
  
He failed.  
  
Skywarp snickered behind his hand.  
  
Gritting his denta, Starscream spat out the last of the data, not that anyone was listening to _finances_ of all things, and slammed the datapad down. It gave an audible crack. Starscream fixed his leader with a stare that sent most smart mecha running for the hills.  
  
Grimlock only straightened, loudly cycling his vocalizer. "In other words, we are capable of purchasing anything we find ourselves needing."  
  
"Yes," Starscream gritted out.  
  
"You could have said that in less words," Skywarp pointed out.  
  
Starscream cut his optics at his trinemate. "The last time I did that, someone complained that we weren't being transparent about the direction of our expenses."  
  
Scrape. Scrape.  
  
The foot traveled a bit further. Starscream's left wing twitched. He moved his foot away. Ha. That ought to show him. Could they have a little decorum here in the meeting room, please and thank you?  
  
Cyclonus was giving them both a look again. That dour look that suggested his delicate sensibilities were being offended.  
  
Grimlock leaned against the table, bracing his head against his fist. "Weren't there other items on our agenda?"  
  
Cyclonus cut them both a hard glance and lifted his datapad. "There is the small matter of--"  
  
"I think we can take a break, don't you?" Skywarp chirped and very not sneakily winked at Starscream. "We've been here for hours."  
  
"Twenty minutes," Cyclonus corrected in what would have been a petulant tone for anyone else. Clearly, he was beyond the point of patience for their shenanigans.  
  
Grimlock's gaze caught Starscream's across the table. "A break would be acceptable, don't you think, my second?"  
  
"Will it help you focus?" Starscream demanded, narrowing his optics.  
  
Skywarp started cackling again. Unhelpful brat.  
  
Cyclonus huffed a vent and got to his feet, gathering up his pile of datapads. He was the only one of them who was keen on doing any work around here apparently. "Will ten minutes be enough?" he asked.  
  
"Twenty," Grimlock said with another long look.  
  
"Oh, I don't know," Starscream drawled as he leaned back in his chair. "Can't remember a time I needed twenty minutes for a break with you before."  
  
Grimlock's visor flashed.  
  
Skywarp almost fell out of his seat. "Oh, man. Thundercracker is going to be slagged that he missed this."  
  
Grimlock straightened, rising to his feet. "Now would be a good time to vacate the room, Skywarp."  
  
"Sir, yes, sir." Skywarp mock-saluted and was gone in a _fwip_ of displaced air, just moments before Cyclonus vanished out the door with a parting huff.  
  
Silence filled the room. Well, silence if one didn't count the sound of Starscream's spinning fans and that occasional click he kept meaning to keep getting looked at. He stared at Grimlock, smirking, as Grimlock stared back at him.  
  
Starscream folded his arms over his cockpit, arching an orbital ridge. "So," he said. "Footsie?"  
  
"Are you telling me you minded?"  
  
"Cyclonus did."  
  
Grimlock pushed off the table, stalking slowly around it, Starscream's optics watching the steady progression.  
  
"I wasn't asking about Cyclonus," Grimlock said, or purred rather.  
  
Starscream pretended the sound of it didn't send a sharp snap of charge down his spinal strut. "You aren't worried he'll walk away?" He admired the sharpness of his talons instead, watching how they gleamed in the overhead lights.  
  
"And join the Neutrals?" Grimlock snorted a ventilation. "Hardly. He'd be more likely to skip off to Optimus, but he's not going to do that either."  
  
Grimlock was close enough now that their fields could come into sizzling contact. There was heat there. Desire, too. It still surprised Starscream how genuine it was.  
  
"You sound so sure." Starscream tilted his helm, looking up at Grimlock and refusing to be intimidated by the size of him. "Might be he surprises you."  
  
"Mmm. Doubt it." Grimlock leaned against the table, caging Starscream in. One hand lifted, coming within an inch of touching the edge of Starscream's wing. "But I'm not really interested in talking about Cyclonus right now."  
  
Starscream's vents hitched. He covered it up with a snort. "Yeah. I can guess what it is you're thinking right now."  
  
Grimlock chuckled and then there it was, contact. His fingertip grazed the very edge of Starscream's wing, sending a jolt through him. Grimlock leaned closer, ex-vents puffing over Starscream's frame.  
  
"With what I have in mind, they'll be lucky if twenty minutes is long enough," Grimlock murmured, his field stroking along the edges of Starscream's like a physical touch.  
  
"I love how you just assume I'm going to go along with it," Starscream retorted, ignoring the heat that wound through his lines, pooling southward. A low throb settled in his valve, the walls lubricating entirely without his permission.  
  
"No assumptions here." Grimlock's finger dragged inward, following the line of his wing right down to his spinal strut and the sensitive hinge. "I just haven't asked properly yet."  
  
"I'm not hearing any requests," Starscream said.  
  
Grimlock's vocalizer hummed. "I was thinking about dropping down to one knee, but I thought that might be a little formal."  
  
Starscream's face filled with heat, despite all attempts to hold himself back, remembering well the last time Grimlock had done such a thing. "You spent too long on Earth," he muttered.  
  
Grimlock outright laughed. "And yet, you don't hate it at all, do you?"  
  
Starscream refused to answer that question. Instead, he unfolded his arms and pushed to his feet, the hand on his hinge sliding down to the base of his backstrut. "Keep this up and your twenty minutes will be up far too soon."  
  
Grimlock's free hand captured Starscream's nearest one and drew it upward, pressing his mouthplate to Starscream's knuckles. "Then maybe you should stop stalling and let me get you on that table."  
  
Starscream narrowed his optics. "And just how long have you been fantasizing about this?"  
  
"Long enough." Grimlock's visor deepened in hue as his hand stroked the base of Starscream's spinal strut. "May I?"  
  
It was always in the asking. Starscream curled his fingers around Grimlock's, two of them stroking the flat of Grimlock's facemask. "If I'm not screaming by the end, you'll owe me."  
  
Grimlock hummed in his intake. "Challenge accepted." His field buzzed against Starscream's, dripping with desire. "Think that table is sturdy enough?"  
  
Despite himself, Starscream laughed. "If I told you I knew that it was, what would you say?"  
  
"That depends on whether or not I want to know _how_ you know."  
  
Grimlock lowered Starscream's hand and guided him around until his back was toward the table, his aft pressed against the edge.  
  
"It's a funny story now," Starscream said with a shrug. "Not so much then. I was never able to look Dirge in the optic after that."  
  
Grimlock made a disgruntled noise. "Thanks for the mental image."  
  
Starscream grinned, the curve of his lips wicked. "I could make it worse by telling you the dance partner."  
  
A large knee worked between his as Grimlock drew them closer together. "Or you could not."  
  
Starscream smirked. "Spoilsport."  
  
One of Grimlock's hands rested on his hips, fingers flexing, thumb sliding into a transformation seam to stroke over the cables beneath. Starscream shivered, more heat gathering behind his panel. He braced his hands on the table behind him, fully prepared to hitch himself onto it.  
  
Cause he wanted this, damn it.  
  
Of all the things that had happened in this secondary meeting room, this was one Starscream could say with certainty he desired.  
  
"You can call me that if you want," Grimlock said as his free hand rose, fingers tracing the curve of Starscream's lips. "I'd just rather my focus be on you, not on something else."  
Starscream's vents hitched. That wasn't fair. How did he always know the right thing to say? What in the world had his Autobot parents been teaching him!?  
  
"You are an utter sap." Starscream flicked his glossa catching the tip of Grimlock's thumb with it. "But fortunately for you, I don't mind."  
  
_Fwip_.  
  
Starscream froze. Grimlock did as well.  
  
"It's been twenty minutes!" Skywarp chirped from the other side of the room as they both turned their heads to see Starscream's trinemate bouncing on his heels.  
  
Until now, Starscream had not known Skywarp could look so smug. That expression was usually reserved for Thundercracker.  
  
Starscream worked his jaw, considering and tossing a half dozen responses, none of them polite, and all of them not at all decent, before he settled on, "You could have used the door."  
  
Skywarp cycled his optics. "But where's the fun in that?" His wings fluttered as he grinned at them. "By the way, Cyclonus is out there in the hall," he added, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. "Want I should tell him to wait, or...?"  
  
Starscream shuttered his optics and prayed for patience he knew he didn't normally possess. It took that long for him to realize that Grimlock was making some odd noises, his frame shaking slightly. Was he... laughing?  
  
Starscream's optics snapped back open. He stared at his partner, whose gaze had shifted away from both Seekers, his visor bright.  
  
"This isn't funny!" Starscream snapped as he wriggled his way out of Grimlock's hold, despite the firm grip on his hip. His lines were still tingling, frag it.  
  
"I kind of think it is," Skywarp said.  
  
Grimlock shook his helm and shadowed his visor with one hand. He waved dismissively. "Tell Cyclonus he can come back. We'll behave."  
  
" _We_?" Starscream repeated, offended. "I wasn't the one playing games under the table."  
  
"Did I ever tell you how cute you two are?" Skywarp asked, his wings flicking like mad.  
  
Starscream vowed that this was the absolute last time he'd let Skywarp sub in for Thundercracker. Sunstorm, yes. But Skywarp, no. Absolutely not.  
  
"Will you just go get Cyclonus?" Starscream hissed.  
  
"Fine." Skywarp huffed and spun on a heelstrut. "Who knew a little static charge would make you so touchy. Geez."  
  
If it was possible for a door to open and shut sulkily, this one did as Skywarp left.  
  
Starscream huffed. He ignored the lick of charge that snapped out from under his plating. Nothing he could do about it now.  
  
This was all Grimlock's fault. Why didn't he look perturbed?  
  
Starscream dropped back down into his chair, glaring at his leader-slash-partner. "Never again," he said.  
  
How could Grimlock smirk without a mask? "We'll see," he said as he gingerly lowered himself back into his own chair.  
  
The door opened, admitting a very bouncy Skywarp and a dour-faced Cyclonus. The latter looked at both Starscream and Grimlock suspiciously. His plating ruffled as though he could sense the static charge in the room, and it bothered him.  
  
"Are you certain you wish to continue the meeting?" Cyclonus asked, hovering near his chair but not taking it yet.  
  
"Yes," Grimlock said before Starscream could get a word out.  
  
_Fine._  
  
They only had to get through the list of prisoner petitions, reconstruction overview, and the new revisions to the charter. Starscream could certainly wait that long.  
  
That didn't mean he wasn't going to punish Skywarp for it later though.


	4. Safeword

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grimlock would never be like any of the others. He absolutely refused. (NSFW, BDSM themes, Safeword Use)

“Look at how hungry you are,” Grimlock growled as he crouched over Starscream, the tip of his spike lingering at the rim of Starscream’s valve, teasing him with the idea of penetration. “Your frame is begging for mine.”

Starscream’s wings fluttered, tapping against Grimlock’s chestplate. “Is not,” he gasped out, even as his hips rolled back, desperately trying to capture Grimlock’s spike, and failing.

Grimlock chuckled, nuzzling into the side of Starscream’s intake, ex-venting heat onto the sensitive cables. He had one arm wrapped around the Seeker’s midsection, keeping their lower halves pinned together. The other arm wrapped over Starscream’s right shoulder, his hand planted against Starscream’s chest, right over his spark chamber.

“Such a liar,” Grimlock purred. He thrust forward a bare inch, the head of his spike enveloped by tight heat that rippled around him. “Lying to me and yourself, aren’t you, pet?”

“I’m not!” Starscream cried, but it came on the tail end of a moan and completely belied his denial.

Grimlock chuckled. His hand slid up Starscream’s chestplate, until it rested at the base of his intake. He rolled his hips, sinking in another few inches. He wasn’t even halfway inside Starscream and already he had to fight to keep himself under control.

“Of course you are.” He pressed his head against Starscream’s, tilting it to the side. He tightened his grip around Starscream’s waist, dragging him tighter against Grimlock’s lower half. “Bet I can make you beg.”

Starscream bit off a moan.

“Won’t you?” Grimlock asked, his hand sliding further up until his fingers touched Starscream’s chin. “If I kept you like this, you’d beg for it so sweetly.”

Starscream stilled beneath him, and said nothing, not even a moan. A ripple went through his armor, but it was over so quickly, Grimlock almost thought he imagined it. Starscream’s valve continued to grip him, as if trying to draw him deeper.

Grimlock stroked Starscream’s jaw, purring right into his audial. “I can’t hear you,” he murmured. “You need to speak up if you want something, pet.”

Nothing. Starscream shivered, making a dull sound at the base of his vocalizer. His aft pushed back as if in indication he was eager, but his field didn’t match.

“Starscream,” Grimlock said, dropping the growl from his voice. When he didn’t get an immediate response, he decided enough was enough. “Starscream, stop.” It was easier to keep it simple.

Stop meant stop.

“Stop?” Starscream repeated, and he sounded honestly confused. “Are you getting a comm?”

“No. We just need to stop.” Grimlock gently drew back, careful to keep his field entwined with Starscream’s, but easing his spike from Starscream’s valve, and easing his grip on Starscream to something gentler as well. “You’re uncomfortable.”

“What? I am not!” Starscream sounded indignant, his wings going rigid and slapping against Grimlock’s front.

Grimlock sat back on the berth just as Starscream squirmed out of his arms and whipped around to face him, the color in his face not entirely arousal. There was surprise there, too. Surprise and indignation.

“And even if I was, I’ll get over it,” he muttered, folding his arms over his cockpit, a failed attempt at looking outraged.

“Getting over it is not the point,” Grimlock said with a soft ex-vent. “I’m only going to have fun with this if you are. And you were fine up until a point. What was it?”

Starscream suddenly found the opposite wall very interesting. “It doesn’t matter.”

Grimlock scooted closer, grabbing a pillow to put it over his lap. Starscream’s own equipment had stowed itself, further proof that he’d been uncomfortable.

“It does to me.” He reached for Starscream and felt relieved when Starscream reached back, at least with one hand. “I want to know how not to hurt you again.”

Starscream’s frown flattened. “You didn’t hurt me.”

“Making you uncomfortable counts.” Grimlock’s thumb rubbed his palm.

Starscream sighed and scraped his free hand down his face. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“No. If you don’t want to talk about it now, that’s fine. But it’s gonna come up before we try any of this again.” Grimlock would insist on it. 

Starscream might think he was supposed to push through it, but Grimlock refused to accept it.

They would both have the time of their life, or none at all.

“Fine. But not now,” Starscream grumbled, and let Grimlock pull him into an embrace. “Let’s just get cleaned up.”

“That I can do.” Grimlock pressed his mouthplate to Starscream’s head.

He would never be like any of the others. He absolutely refused.


	5. Checkmate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winning extends to everything. (SFW)

“Starscream.” 

“What?” He didn't look up. He remained focused on his objective. 

“It's your move.” 

Starscream's wings hiked upward. “I know that.” 

Laughter rumbled deep in Grimlock's chassis. “Are you sure? Because it's been ten minutes.” 

Starscream narrowed his optics. “I'm thinking. This requires planning.” 

“Star, we're playing Checkers.” 

He huffed a ventilation. “Your point?” 

Grimlock hummed. He traced a finger along the edge of Starscream's wing. He shivered and flicked it back at his lover. 

“It's not that serious,” Grimlock said. “It's just a game.” 

“One I intend to win.” Starscream peered at the board. 

“You don't have to win at everything.” 

Starscream snorted. “You don't know me at all, do you?” He reached across the board and moved a single piece. “Your turn.” 

“I know you. I just didn't realize that extended to an organic board game.” Grimlock chuckled and made his move in less than thirty seconds. Hah. He clearly wasn't playing this as much attention as he ought. 

“It extends to everything.” Starscream smirked and promptly jumped all but one of Grimlock's pieces. “Checkmate!” 

“We're playing Checkers.” 

“No. I’m winning Checkers,” Starscream retorted with a snicker. “And you owe me.” He poked Grimlock in the chassis, right over his still gleaming Decepticon badge. 

Grimlock captured his hand, fingers warm as they wrapped around Starscream's wrist, and he pulled it toward his mouthplate. Starscream's knuckles brushed against it. 

“I don't remember making a bet,” he murmured. 

Starscream shivered. “Yes, well, we did. So graciously accept your defeat.” 

Grimlock purred at him, “When it comes to you, I always do.”


	6. Quite Contrary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starscream gives instructions Grimlock is happy to obey.

"A little to the right."  
  
Grimlock obeyed, careful to conceal the burble of laughter that rose in his intake as he did so. The command barely counted as one, given it was murmured in such an adorably sleepy tone.   
  
"Yes, Star," he replied and shifted his fingers from Starscream's joint, to the flat of his left wing. He traced the barely visible seams with one hand, and let the other drag lightly around the top edge.   
  
Starscream shivered beneath him. The ignored wing flicked as though demanding attention. But it would have to wait. Grimlock only had the two hands.   
  
"Bettter?"   
  
Starscream sighed a soft sound. "Much," he murmured and sank a little deeper into berth. "You know, I think I might keep you."   
  
Grimlock allowed the laugh free this time. "I'll take that as a compliment. But you might have a little trouble chaining me to your berth."   
  
"Mm. I'll just get Wheeljack to design me some thicker restraints."   
  
The sad part was that Wheeljack would do it, too. Little matchmaker. He’d also demand feedback afterward, which meant sooner rather than later, Wheeljack and Starscream would start babbling at each other in scientific lingo.

It was kind of adorable.   
  
"So long as I'm there for that conversation."   
  
Starscream's backstrut arched a little, his wing pushing harder into Grimlock's hand. "A little to the left."   
  
Contrary Seekers.   
  
Grimlock shook his head and obeyed. "Yes, dear."

After all, it was hardly a trial to put his hands all over Starscream. Especially if it meant he would later be generously rewarded.


	7. Tomfoolery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starscream and Grimlock playfully indulge while in the shower.

It should have made him angry, irrational beyond all reason. But there was something about the arrogance in Grimlock’s field that was a shade different and acceptable. Rather than inspiring vitriol, it made heat drizzle down Starscream’s spinal strut.

He should have snarled and jerked away. Instead, he cried out and drew in desperate pants through his vents as Grimlock crowded against him from behind, pinning him against the wall of the washracks. Solvent pattered down on top of them, steaming hot, a rain against Starscream’s already heated plating.

Grimlock’s face pressed against the side of his neck, ex-vents caressing Starscream’s cables. His mouthplate vibrated, adding to the pleasure.

Starscream tossed his helm back and moaned. His hands scraped at the walls, fingers tangling in the metallic mesh. Grimlock’s hands gripped his waist, his hips. He lifted Starscream with ease as he ground against Starscream’s aft. His spike left a wet smear, one that was washed away by a stream of solvent.

Arousal throbbed heavy in Starscream’s lines. His panels were open, spike throbbing, valve pulsing, dripping lubricant. He canted his hips backward, waiting for the moment when Grimlock would slide into him, thick and wide, parting the folds of his valve and taking him.

Such thoughts should have angered him. Made him humiliated. Yet, he felt the complete opposite when Grimlock touched him. Careful and appreciative, rather than rough and dismissive. He felt celebrated, not used.

He felt wanted.

“Tell me,” Grimlock growled into his audial, his spike rubbing against Starscream’s rim, catching on his anterior node. Pleasure lit a bonfire through his circuits.

Starscream growled. He shuttered his optics, bowed his helm, the solvent pattering down over him. Every time, damn it. Every time, Grimlock insisted on this.

Grimlock’s helm rubbed against his, affection and insistence. His fingers flexed on Starscream’s waist. His ex-vents blew into the shower, setting off a rise of steam.

“Tell me,” he demanded again.

Starscream’s engine growled. He was on the tip of his pedes as he shoved his aft back toward Grimlock, canting his hips encouragingly. “Do it,” he demanded as something inside of him clicked into place, welcoming. “Frag me, damn you. Do it.”

Grimlock growled, a near-bestial sound. He lifted Starscream that much higher, clear off his pedes. He rolled his hips, the head of his spike catching against the lip of Starscream’s valve. It nudged inside, lighting up the first ring of sensors, and Starscream moaned. He was already halfway to overload and Grimlock had barely touched him.

“Tell me to stop,” Grimlock said, not a request, but a reminder.

“More,” Starscream said instead and shuddered when Grimlock obeyed, when he pushed into Starscream in one slow, aching slide.

Every single sensor node lit up at once, and Starscream shuddered, his valve cycling down. Arousal tangled inside of him as electric fire coursed through his frame. He moaned, hands scraping at the wall, as Grimlock bottomed out inside of him and then circled his hips, grinding steadily on Starscream’s ceiling node.

He panted, desperate breaths through his vent. His plating heated, solvent evaporating with a sizzle where it touched him. Grimlock throbbed within him, his grip unrelenting and steadying. His field rose up, swallowing Starscream whole, full of desire and appreciation and Starscream writhed just in that sensation alone. His wings shivered, trapped against Grimlock’s bulk, the press of his chestplate. Grimlock’s engine roared, the vibrations carrying through Starscream’s entire frame.

He overloaded with a shout, valve cycling down tight, spike dribbling transfluid to join the solvent swirl down the drain.

Grimlock nuzzled against his helm, spike keeping still within Starscream’s valve as charge nipped at the receptor nodes. “That was one,” he growled as his fingers flexed. “Think we have time for two?”

Starscream pushed against the wall, shoving himself backward as best he was capable, stirring the spike within his valve. He peered over his shoulder, catching the gleam of Grimlock’s visor.

“We have time for as many as you think you can manage,” Starscream replied, ignoring the rasp in his vocalizer and the tremors wracking his frame.

Grimlock chuckled, his spike pulsing. “Is that a challenge, my second?”

A shiver zapped down Starscream’s spinal strut. There was something in the way Grimlock claimed him with words alone that never failed to make Starscream melt.

“Of course it is,” he retorted, though the waspish reply fell short when it trailed into a moan as Grimlock started to move, little rolling thrusts that toyed with his sensor nodes.

Grimlock purred into his audial. “Then it’ll be my pleasure.”

Starscream gasped as Grimlock started to move again, inciting curls of pleasure that seemed to radiate through Starscream’s frame.

At this rate, they’d never leave the washracks. Thank Primus for the solvent recycling facilities. And that the only one who’d dare disturb them would never do so.

It was an indulgence in something Starscream never thought he would have. And he wasn’t going to let go anytime soon.

***


	8. Uh Oh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That is generally an exclamation one doesn't want to hear when knotted on your lover's spike.

“Uh oh.”

Starscream froze. That was not the kind of sound one wanted to hear right after an earth-shaking overload. Not when he was still panting, struggling to find reason again, his frame limp and pliant where it splayed across his partner’s massive chest.

“Uh oh?” Starscream repeated, perhaps a touch too sharp. He pushed himself upright with wobbly elbows, shifting his weight and shifting the massive spike still filling his valve, Grimlock’s knot lodged just within his rim. “What do you mean ‘uh oh’?”

Grimlock’s visor turned a pale shade of red. His hands flexed on Starscream’s hips before they started to pet him gently. “My mod is not responding,” he said.

Starscream cycled his optics. “Come again?”

Grimlock chuckled, though faint it was. “I already did once. And I think that’s the problem.” He cycled a ventilation and stroked his hand down Starscream’s back, beneath his wings. “My mod is not responding. I can’t depressurize the knot.”

Starscream stared at him. He heard the words, but for some reason, they did not compute. His valve fluttered, twitching around the knot.

“We’re stuck,” Grimlock added, and his field fluttered around Starscream, warm with embarrassment.

Starscream’s mouth opened. His jaw worked. His claws dug into Grimlock’s chestplate. He felt a screech building and forced himself to ventilate instead.

“Stuck,” he repeated.

“Together,” Grimlock clarified and his field blushed even more. He shifted, jostling his spike a little in Starscream’s valve.

Starscream clutched him harder. “Fix it,” he hissed through gritted denta. For as pleasurable as this was, they couldn’t very well rule the Decepticons whilst joined at the interfacing array!

Grimlock’s vents coughed. “I can’t. Without a medic, I mean.” He tapped his helm with a free hand. “Error messages.”

“We are _not_ calling Ratchet!” Starscream all but snarled. “And we’re not calling Knock Out either!”

Grimlock stroked down his back. “We have to call someone, Star.”

“Absolutely not.” Starscream fumbled at his dorsum and popped open his panel. “Show me your data port. Let me see what I can do.” A tangle of cables spilled into his fingers. Primus, they practically had dust on them. Clearly, he needed to cross cables more often.

Grimlock chuckled, but popped his dataport – in his hip of all places – and tapped his port in offering. “You’re welcome to try. But if you can’t do anything--”

“We’ll discuss which medic we want to laugh at us _after_ I exhaust all other options,” Starscream huffed.

Honestly, he’d built weapons and energon converters and stasis bands. Surely he could figure out how to disengage a malfunctioning interface mod.

“And you’re going to make this up to me later,” Starscream added with a firm look at his partner.

Grimlock’s field pushed at his, embarrassed on the edges, but warm and syrupy in the center. “Whatever you want.”

“A wash and a wax and a detailing,” Starscream said as their systems connected and he started to concentrate.

“Yes, dear.”

  



	9. Switching Things Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starscream had all the power, and it tasted sweet.

Starscream shivered as he sank down again, his calipers parting to make way for the thick girth filling him with every roll of his hips. 

Beneath him, Grimlock growled. His field rose up with grasping fingers, sticking to the edges of Starscream’s, pulsing heat. 

“Don’t you dare overload,” Starscream panted as he rocked his hips, grinding Grimlock’s spike against his ceiling node. Sparks of pleasure danced up and down his spinal strut, making him jerk. 

Grimlock chuckled darkly. “Are you the one giving orders now?” 

“No. Stating a fact.” Starscream braced his hands on the Dinobot’s belly, lifting his aft and pulling his valve along the length of Grimlock’s spike, invoking a long slide against his internal nodes. 

He shivered, head lolling on his shoulders, before he focused again. 

“You need to learn some self-control,” Starscream added with a quick vent. “My lord.” 

Grimlock groaned, his spike throbbing. His hands curled into fists, his wrists tugging at the cuffs, which blinked a baleful red. They held firm. Starscream would never, ever admit that he’d gotten them from Wheeljack. 

Starscream smirked, his glossa sweeping over his lips. He looked down at his lover, at the bright flash in Grimlock’s visor. 

Liked that, did he?

“My lord,” he purred again and sank down, his calipers rippling and squeezing at Grimlock’s spike, spitting charge at his sensor nodes. 

Grimlock’s engine roared. “Damn it, Starscream,” he moaned, his entire frame rattling as he struggled to hold back his overload. 

Oh, he liked that a lot. 

Starscream huffed a laugh. He sucked in ventilation, the air tasting of arousal and charge.   
Of power. 

And he had it _all_.


	10. Pause

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grimlock proves himself to be as perceptive as ever, much to Starscream’s relief.

Try as he might, Starscream could not ignore the glowing green indicator light in his peripheral vision. It was a constant reminder that they were recording this, and all he could think about was how ridiculous and wanton he looked.

He shuttered his optics to ignore it, but his armor crawled as though he were being watched. It did not help. Not even the slow and steady circling of his anterior node cluster could gain his attention.

Starscream leaned back into Grimlock’s embrace, desperate to focus on his warmth, his touch, the inevitable pleasure. He bit back his cries, swallowed down his moans, and dug his claws into Grimlock’s arms.

The gentle pressure on his nub vanished. Damp fingers rested on his thigh.

“Why are you stopping?” Starscream demanded.

“Because something’s wrong.”

Starscream unshuttered his optics. “What? Did Cyclonus ping you?” Neither of them were on shift right now.

Grimlock’s fingers stroked his thigh. “No. Wrong with you.”

“What? No, I’m fine.”

Grimlock audibly sighed a ventilation. He rubbed his mouthguard against the back of Starscream’s helm. “We don’t have to record this. It’s supposed to be fun.”

And as usual, he went right to the crux of the matter.

“It _is_ fun,” Starscream insisted.

“Star.”

Starscream heaved a vent. His helm tipped back against Grimlock’s shoulder. “Okay. Fine. It’s not. It’s embarrassing. Can we just turn it off?”

“Done.”

The light in his peripheral vision turned to red. It was no longer recording. Instantly, a wave of relief spread through Starscream’s frame. He sagged in Grimlock’s lap. “Thank you.”

Grimlock nuzzled the side of his helm. “Anytime. Want to stop?”

Starscream rolled his hips, nudging the fingers on his thigh. “No. Want you in me now, or touching me, I don’t care which.” Without the stare of the camera, his arousal came flooding back, and his valve clenched weakly.

The fingers returned to his node cluster, stroking it gently, and a moan spilled from Starscream’s lips.

“That’s better,” Grimlock murmured, his engine vibrating against Starscream’s back and his wings. “I want you to enjoy this, Star.”

Starscream’s face heated and his spark fluttered at the frank admission. He moved into Grimlock’s hold, the pleasure returning with a vengeance, a surge of charge through his lines, and flush of heat.

Grimlock purred against his helm and into his audial. “I want you to sing for me,” he murmured.

Starscream trembled, quite certain that Grimlock would get what he wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> Gonna go ahead and mark this as complete, but if I do get any more random ideas, I'll still put them here. Thanks for reading!


End file.
